Iraqi PM vows to 'hunt down' militants responsible for Eid violence

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said in a speech on Wednesday that he will ensure that the militants suspected of being involved in the wave of bombings that killed more than 60 Iraqi civilians over Eid Al Fitr weekend are brought to justice.

Al Qaeda in Iraq also claimed responsibility for a recent wave of mass breakouts from Iraqi jails last month.

Sectarian violence between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite populations have been antagonised by the ongoing sectarian conflict in neighbouring Syria. Iraq's minority Sunni population is dissastisfied with the Iraqi Shiite-led government, according to AFP analysts, and feel that the government has done little to ease their discontent.

The Baghdad-based security crackdown has resulted in the arrest of more than 800 suspects, the discovering of large amounts of weapons and explosives, Maliki said during his speech, according to Reuters.